Last week I was approved for ordination in the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). By this time next year – God-willing – I might just be publicly preaching and teaching the Christian message like nobody’s business. Such a prospect has made me think more and more about what it means to do Word and Sacrament ministry. A few, somewhat-random thoughts are below.
1. “If I proclaim the Gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16)
Those are the words of the apostle Paul, but I would venture to say that many people count them as their own. I was converted to faith in Christ by a sermon I heard in high school, and so preaching is something about which I care deeply.
Nevertheless, I have to admit that it’s far easier to speak the Gospel from the pulpit than it is in less-structured settings. The true mettle of faith is demonstrated by those who speak the Word of God in a situation that doesn’t naturally welcome it. Those without such boldness would do well to remember – and would do even better to believe – Jesus’ words: “Everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.” (Luke 12:8-9)
Indeed, “woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel!”
2. “Do not ordain anyone hastily…” (1 Timothy 5:22)
Ordination is not a right. (It is a rite, but that’s different.) Thus, it is not open to anyone who desires it or even to anyone who thinks God has called him to Word and Sacrament ministry. Assuming that the gifts for ministry are gifts of the Holy Spirit, and assuming that the Church is led by that same Holy Spirit, then the gifts must be recognized and validated by the Church.
Of course, this gets increasingly easier for me to say as I approach ordination. Still, the point stands: “Do not ordain anyone hastily…” The logical flip-side of that is this: If you believe that God has given you a particular gift for the sake of edifying his Church, then submit that belief and that gift to the Church for her Spirit-led determination. (Yes, this gets a lot more complicated by the fact that many “churches” are led by a different spirit than the Holy Spirit, but I’m not even going to try to solve that problem here.)
3. “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’” (John 20:21-23)
As the above quote shows, ministers of Word and Sacrament have been entrusted with Christ’s mission, and they have been given his Spirit to carry it out. Their mission is to redeem the fallen world not with the wisdom of men, but with a message. What does that message entail? Two related things: the forgiveness and the retention of sins. Like their forbears, modern-day apostles carry a twofold message: “Repent, and believe the good news.” In other words, turn away from false gods, and turn to the merciful lordship of Jesus Christ. That’s the basic message. The first part retains sins, the second forgives the repentant sinner. It is both Law and Gospel, and it both kills the old Adam and gives birth to the new Christ.
It’s worth noting that when the Law is preached, the Christian preacher’s definition of sin is not up to his discretion. An example of such an abuse of the preacher’s office: “I love the environment, so I’m going to tell SUV drivers to repent.” Or, “Gee, according to God’s Word that man is committing a sin, but I don’t want to hurt his feelings. I’ll just stay quiet.” Put simply, sin is not that which the preacher doesn’t like. Rather, it is that which God’s Law proscribes, whether we like it or not.
Finally, by what means is the preacher’s task accomplished? With the proclaimed Word of God, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. The task of the Christian preacher is to speak the Word in its twofold form, and pray that the Spirit will do his salvific work. The preacher cannot ensure that the message will be received. His task is faithfulness to the Word, while the power of conversion belongs to the domain of the Holy Spirit. As it is written, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6) (Of course, if one’s proclamation of the Word never bears fruit, then he ought to consider why. Perhaps he’s not proclaiming the same Word to which the Spirit lends his power.)
So those are my somewhat-random thoughts. I’ll conclude with what I find to be the best description of Christ’s apostles, both 2,000 years ago and today: “Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries.” (1 Corinthians 4:1)
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